Sudden infant death is unpredictable and exhaustive studies have been made to determine ideology which is yet to be accurately defined. The cessation of respiration often referred to as apnea and the diminution of heart rate often referred to as bradycardia, are critical problems for all infants and premature infants are especially predisposed. In fact, between the ages of one month and one year, sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the number one cause of death. It is understood that repeated attacks as well as prolonged attacks of apnea are factors which carry a poor prognosis both for life and for subsequent mental development resulting from irreversible cerebral damage sustained during these apneic episodes. Currently, the best prospect for preventing apnea is through constant surveillance, preferably using some automated device to alert attendants so that manual stimulation or resuscitation can begin promptly. As a consequence, apnea monitoring of infants has become a standard practice in both the home and health care institutions.
Management of apnea monitoring in infants for the most part includes sensitive devices for detecting apnea events. Upon detection of an apnea episode, a visual or audible alarm is generated, to call the parent or attending nurse for prompt manual stimulation of the infant in an attempt to terminate the episode by restoring normal breathing and heart rate. Alertness and responsiveness of the parent or nursing staff is important as it becomes more difficult to obtain a positive response to stimulation the longer the apnea and bradycardia persists. Naturally then, most monitors are designed to provide an early alarm. Unfortunately, however, most of these apnea and bradycardia episodes are of a short duration and occur almost randomly during any day of infant life. Thus, they place a continuous burden on the parent or nurse to the extent that in some cases the alarms have been inadvertently neglected.
In most instances, the parents of an infant first discover that their child is subject to apnea and bradycardia episodes only after the child is in the home. If the child survives this episode, it will be one of very few that do. Current statistics reveal that only a few children per year survive an apnea episode whereas approximately 10,000 per year do not survive. It has become current practice to place the monitoring system within the home of the child. Thus, the alertness and responsiveness of the parents becomes vitally important. After many weeks of this alertness and responsiveness, the parents virtually become exhausted and there have been many instances where the parents have slept through the alarm resulting in the death of the infant.
While we are not unmindful of the subject matter of U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,799 which discloses a respiratory distress stimulator system, it has been our experience to note that children susceptible to apnea and bradycardia episodes will return to normal breathing and cardiac activity if vigorously manually stimulated as by shaking and/or jostling. However, if the parent, or in some instances, nursing personnel are not immediately at hand, this vigorous stimulation shaking of the child cannot be performed. As has been noted in the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,799, it becomes more difficult to obtain a positive response to stimulation the longer the apnea and bradycardia persists. Thus, the earlier that a child is vigorously stimulated, the more likely it is that the child will survive.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide an infant respiratory arrest stimulator device that will effect a vigorous shaking of the child immediately in response to the detection of an apnea and/or bradycardia episode by a monitoring device.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an infant respiratory arrest stimulator device, as aforesaid, wherein the conventional apnea monitoring devices do not need to be structurally altered, thus making it possible for the respiratory arrest stimulator device to be immediately put to use with conventional respiratory/cardiac monitoring equipment.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an infant respiratory arrest stimulator device, as aforesaid, wherein the crib in which the child has been placed is vigorously shaken in instantaneous response to the detection of an apnea and bradycardia event.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an infant respiratory arrest stimulator device, as aforesaid, wherein in addition to a vigorous shaking of the child located in a crib, loud and sharp noise pulses are generated by structure on the crib in an effort to startle the child back to a normal breathing cycle.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an infant respiratory arrest stimulator device which is reliable and durable and requires little or no maintenance.
It is a further object of this invention to provide an infant respiratory arrest stimulator device, as aforesaid, wherein the device can be tested periodically to make sure that it works properly and includes an indicating mechanism indicating to the attendant whether there has been an activation of the respiratory arrest stimulator device in the absence of any direct interaction with the child by the attendant.